Chaimsonovitz p



(No Model.)

0. P. ELIESON & F. A. PELLAS.

FIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Mar. 27,

' ATTORNEYS.

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WASNINGTQN. :14 c.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

/ CHAIMSONOVITZ P. ELIESON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND FRANCIS ALFRED PELLAS, OF GREYTOWN, NICARAGUA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,335, dated March 27, 1894.

Application filed January 17, 18 93. Renewed September 21, 1893- SerialNoA i N model) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHAIMSONOVITZ P. ELIESON, of the city, county, and State of New York, and FRANCIS ALFRED PELLAS,-0f Greytown, Nicaragua, Central America, have invented a new and Improved Fire-Escape, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to improvements in fire escapes, and especially to that class of fire escapes shown in the United States patent, No. 437,333, dated September 30, 1890, and in which swinging ladders are used which are adapted to be dropped from various balconies to form a passageway or stairway from the windows of a building to the ground.

The objects of this invention are to improve the construction shown in the former patent, to dispense with the objectionable chains which are a feature of said patent; to provide means for automatically opening the'balcony doors by the movements of the ladders and also gear the doors and ladders together, so that one shall act as a counterbalance for the other; to provide a convenient and simple mechanism whereby a whole vertical series of ladders may be quickly and simultaneously released and dropped, and in general to produce a fire escape which is absolutely safe and strong, may be very conveniently and etfectively used and will, when not in use, have the appearance of ordinary balconies.

To these ends our invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken front elevation of a building provided with our improved balconies and fire escapes, and with one of the balconies and fire escapes in longitudinal sec tion, the ladders of the fire escapes being shown in folded position and the balcony doors closed. Fig. 2 is a similar view, but

with the ladders dropped into position for use and the balcony doors opened. Fig. 3 is a broken plan view of one of the balconies and the mechanism connected therewith.- Fig.

4 is a vertical cross section on the line ld in Fig. 2. Fig.5 is a sectional plan of the releasing mechanism on the line 5-5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan of another portion of the releasing mechanism, showing the trip plate in position to support the ladder. Fig. 7 is a broken detail elevation of a modified form of mechanism for actuating the ladder rail, the rail being shown in this figure in a folded position; and Fig. 8 is a view of the same mechanism, but with the ladder dropped and the rail raised.

A plurality of balconies 10, of any desired style and of any shape whatever so long as they have fiat floors 11, are arranged one above another upon a building 12, so as to extend in the usual way opposite the several floors and windows of the building. On the under side of each balcony floor and hinged on a suitable supporting shaft is a swinging ladder13, which is long enough to extend to the balcony below, or if the balcony is on the second floor, which is long enough to extend from the balcony to the ground, and the ladder at its upper end is secured to a shaft 14: which carries a gear wheel 15, and the latter engages a pinion 16 on a shaft 17 which is A parallel with the shaft 14 and is secured to a fly or door 18, this door being adapted to close an exit opening or aperture 18 ,see Fig.2, in the floor 11 of the balcony, which aperture comes opposite the pivoted end of the ladder and is sufficiently large to permit easy passage of a person through it.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that when the ladder is folded against the bottom of the balcony, as in Fig. 1, the door 18 will be closed, and when the ladder is swung downward into position for use, as in Fig. 2, the door will be opened, the connecting gears being timed so that these movements just described will take place. When the ladder is dropped, the door 18 acts as a counterbalance and prevents the too sudden movement of the ladder, and all separate counterbalancing mechanism is thus dispensed with.

The trap door may be made of such weight that it will properly counterbalance the lad der and cause the same to drop gradually to place.

The ladder is provided on the outside with a suitable rail 19, which when the ladder is dropped, is held at the requisite distance from the ladder to form a convenient support for a person ascending or descending and which, when the ladderis swung upward, folds downward upon the ladder rail, as shown in Fig. 1.

The guard rail 19 and the main ladder rail connect by means of suitable slats or uprights 20 which are pivoted to both rails, and the upper slat 20 is also pivoted at its upper end, as shown at 21, to a curved lever 22, the lower end of which is pivoted, as shown at 23, to a support 23 and the lever 22 and the slat 20 swing on different centers, so that when the ladder is swung upward, the lever causes the slat 20 to swing rearward and downward, thus pulling the rail 19 against the outer rail of the ladder, the several slats 2O folding downward into a position nearly parallel with the ladder rail, as shown in Fig. 1.

The ladders are held in an upright position and released by means of a vertical shaft 24-, and the trip plates 25 onthe shaft. A shaft 24 is arranged opposite each vertical row of balconies so as to extend adjacent to the feet of the several ladders, and the shaft opposite the balconies is provided with trip plates 25 which are adapted to swing beneath and support the ladders. The shaft 21 is provided at its lower end with a worm wheel 25 which engages a screw shaft 26, the latter being journaled in suitable bearings at right angles to the shaft 2.4c and having atits end hand wheels 27 by which it may be turned. It will be seen that by turning the shafts 26 and 2a in one direction the trip plates may be swung from beneath the ladders so as to permit the ladders to drop, and by turning the shaft 25 in the opposite direction,tl1e trip plates may be swung beneath the ladders so as to sup port them. The shaft 26 and worm wheel 25 are held in a suitable box 28, which is within easy reach of the ground and which is provided with a door29. This door may be kept locked inside or outside the building and only certain authorized persons provided with a key, so that thieves and other disreputable people cannot use the fire escapesfor unlaw' ful purposes.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown a slightly modified means of actuating the guard rail 19 of the ladder, and as shown in these figures, the ladder is supposed to swing in the manner already described,but the upper slat 20, instead of being pivoted to a bent lever as specified, is pivoted to a swinging lever 30 and the latter is supported, as shown at 31, at a point above the ladder. Consequently when-the ladder is dropped, the slat 20 on the lever 30 will straighten out, as shown in Fig. 8, thus lifting the rail 19 into position for use.

It will be understood that any number of.

balconies and ladders may be used and that, if the length of a balcony permits, several ladders may be used in connection wlth 1t. It will also be seen that the ladders may be provided with extensible lower endsif desired,

without departing from the principle of our ture, a swinging ladder adapted to fold beneath the balcony floor. and to drop into-operative position, and connecting, gears for operating the door by the movementof the ladder; substantially as described.

2. A fire escape, comprising a balconyhav ing an exit aperture in its floor, a vertically swinging door to close the aperture, and a swinging ladder adapted to lie, beneath the balcony and to drop downward into operative position, the ladder and door being geared together so that the door will act as acountcw balance for the ladder,substantially asdescribed.

3. A fire escape, comprising a balcony having an exit aperture, aswinging ladder beneath the balcony and having one endarranged near the aperture, a swinging-doomeclose the aperture, agear connection between the door and ladder, whereby they will move, in unison, but in opposite directions, a fold ing guard rail pivotally connected with one of the ladder rails, and alever mechanismfor swinging the guard rail into operative position by the downward movement of the ladder, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the balconies and.

the vertically swinging ladders arranged be;- neath them, of averticalrevoluble shaft extending opposite the feetof the ladders, and trips-carried by the shaft and adaptedztoextend beneath the ladder feet, substantiallyas described.

5. The combination, of thebalconies; the

swinging ladders adapted to lie beneath the balconies, the revoluble vertical shaft carrying trip plates which extendbeneath the'lad der feet, the gear mechanism fortnrning'thc shaft, and a lock box containing the; gear' mechanism, substantially as: described.

Witnesses:

WARREN B. HUTCHINSON, O. Snnewrcx. 

